Saturday, June 21, 2003

Clutching photos of her slain son on Friday, Kim Smith had a couple of words for those with loved ones still on duty in Iraq.

"Baby wipes, folks," the woman said in all sincerity. "That was one of my son's biggest requests."

Smith was remarkably upbeat considering her plight. On Wednesday, she was informed that her son, Army Pfc. Robert Lewis "Robby" Frantz, 19, was killed in Baghdad when assailants attacked an undisclosed location he was guarding. A grenade tossed over a wall fatally injured Frantz, who enlisted in August 2002 and went to the combat zone only five weeks ago.